Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

Nearly 15% of American students are chronically absent from school. To address absenteeism, many states have recently made chronic absence a core component of their school accountability plans. Scholars have theorized that a positive school climate can promote student attendance, but empirical support for this idea is lacking. In this study, the relationship between four student-reported measures of school climate and student attendance are investigated by analyzing two annual school climate surveys (N = 823,753) from New York City. Results indicate small associations among the four measures of perceived school climate and student attendance. Furthermore, school-level changes in perceived school climate between middle and high school were only marginally associated with student attendance.

Keywords

school climate student attendance chronic absence accountability

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Adams

C. M.

Ware

J. K.

Miskell

R. C.

Forsyth

P. B.

(2016). Self-regulatory climate: A positive attribute of public schools. Journal of Educational Research, 109(2), 169–180. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220671.2014.934419

Aldridge

J. M.

McChesney

Afari

(2018). Relationships between school climate, bullying and delinquent behaviours. Learning Environments Research, 21(2), 153–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-017-9249-6

Alspaugh

J. W.

(1998). The relationship of school-to-school transitions and school size to high school dropout rates. High School Journal, 81(3), 154–160.

Balfanz

Byrnes

(2012). Chronic absenteeism: Summarizing what we know from nationally available data. Johns Hopkins University Center for Social Organization of Schools.

Balfanz

Byrnes

(2018). Using data and the human touch: Evaluating the NYC inter-agency campaign to reduce chronic absenteeism. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 23(1-2), 107–121. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2018.1435283

Balfanz

Herzog

Mac Iver

D. J.

(2007). Preventing student disengagement and keeping students on the graduation path in urban middle-grades schools: Early identification and effective interventions. Educational Psychologist, 42(4), 223–235. https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520701621079

Balu

Porter

Gunton

(2016). Can informing parents help high school students show up for school? MDRC. https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/NewVisionsRCT_2016_Brief.pdf

Bandura

(1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. W.H. Freeman.

Barber

B. K.

Olsen

J. A.

(2004). Assessing the transitions to middle and high school. Journal of Adolescent Research, 19(1), 3–30. https://doi.org/10.1177/0743558403258113

10.

Bauer

Liu

Schanzenbach

D. W.

Shambaugh

(2018). Reducing chronic absenteeism under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Hamilton Project.

11.

Bell

Costa

Machin

(2016). Crime, compulsory schooling laws and education. Economics of Education Review, 54, 214–226. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econedurev.2015.09.007

12.

Berkowitz

Moore

Astor

R. A.

Benbenishty

(2017). A research synthesis of the associations between socioeconomic background, inequality, school climate, and academic achievement. Review of Educational Research, 87(2), 425–469. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316669821

13.

Chang

H. N.

Bauer

Byrnes

(2018, September). Data matters: Using chronic absence to accelerate action for student success. Attendance Works. https://www.attendanceworks.org/data-matters/

14.

Chang

H. N.

Romero

(2008). Present, engaged, and accounted for: The critical importance of addressing chronic absence in the early grades [Report]. National Center for Children in Poverty.

15.

Chou

L. C.

C. Y.

Chen

C. Y.

Chen

W. J.

(2006). Truancy and illicit drug use among adolescents surveyed via street outreach. Addictive Behaviors, 31(1), 149–154. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2005.04.011

16.

Cohen

McCabe

Michelli

N. M.

Pickeral

(2009). School climate: Research, policy, practice, and teacher education. Teachers College Record, 111(1), 180–213.

17.

Corcoran

S. P.

Elbel

Schwartz

A. E.

(2016). The effect of breakfast in the classroom on obesity and academic performance: Evidence from New York City. Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, 35(3), 509–532. https://doi.org/10.1002/pam.21909

18.

Cordes

Leardo

Rick

Shwartz

A. E.

(2019). Can school buses drive down (chronic) absenteeism? In Gottfried

M. A.

Hutt

E. L.

(Eds.). Absent from school: Understanding and addressing student absenteeism (pp. 121–136). Harvard Education Press.

19.

Corrin

Sepanik

Rosen

Shane

(2016). Addressing early warning indicators: Interim impact findings from the investing in innovation (i3) evaluation of Diplomas Now. MDRC. https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/DiplomasNow%203rd%202016.pdf

20.

Cortiella

Boundy

K. B.

(2018, April). Students with disabilities and chronic absenteeism (NCEO Brief No. 15). University of Minnesota, National Center on Educational Outcomes.

21.

Da Costa Nunez

Erb-Downward

Shaw-Amoah

(2015, November). Empty seats: The epidemic of absenteeism among homeless elementary students. Institute for Children, Poverty, and Homelessness. https://www.icphusa.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/ICPH-Policy-Report_Empty-Seats_Chronic-Absenteeism.pdf

22.

Daniels

S. R.

(2006). The consequences of childhood overweight and obesity. Future of Children, 16(1), 47–67. https://doi.org/10.1353/foc.2006.0004

23.

Datar

Sturm

(2006). Childhood overweight and elementary school outcomes. International Journal of Obesity, 30(9), 1449–1460. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.ijo.0803311

24.

Davis

J. R.

Warner

(2018). Schools matter: The positive relationship between New York City high schools’ student academic progress and school climate. Urban Education, 53(8), 959–980. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085915613544

25.

Dee

T. S.

West

M. R.

(2011). The non-cognitive returns to class size. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 33(1), 23–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085915613544

26.

deJung

Duckworth

(1986). High school teachers and their students’ attendance [Final Report]. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED266557.pdf

27.

Flaherty

C. W.

Sutphen

R. D.

Ely

G. E.

(2012). Examining substance abuse in truant youths and their caregivers: Implications for truancy intervention. Children & Schools, 34(4), 201–211. https://doi.org/10.1093/cs/cds008

28.

Forsyth

P. B.

Adams

C. M.

Hoy

W. K.

(2011). Collective trust: Why schools can’t improve without it. Teachers College Press.

29.

Freeman

Simonsen

(2015). Examining the impact of policy and practice interventions on high school dropout and school completion rates: A systematic review of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 85(2), 205–248. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314554431

30.

Freeman

Simonsen

McCoach

D. B.

Sugai

Lombardi

Horner

(2016). Relationship between school-wide positive behavior interventions and supports and academic, attendance, and behavior outcomes in high schools. Journal of Positive Behavior Interventions, 18(1), 41–51. https://doi.org/10.1177/1098300715580992

31.

Gage

N. A.

Larson

Sugai

Chafouleas

S. M.

(2016). Student perceptions of school climate as predictors of office discipline referrals. American Educational Research Journal, 53(3), 492–515. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831216637349

32.

Geier

A. B.

Foster

G. D.

Womble

L. G.

McLaughlin

Borradaile

K. E.

Nachmani

Sherman

Kumanyika

Shults

(2007). The relationship between relative weight and school attendance among elementary schoolchildren. Obesity, 15(8), 2157–2161. https://doi.org/10.1038/oby.2007.256

33.

Gershenson

(2016). Linking teacher quality, student attendance, and student achievement. Education Finance and Policy, 11(2), 125–149. https://doi.org/10.1162/EDFP_a_00180

34.

Goodman

(2014). Flaking out: Student absences and snow days as disruptions of instructional time (No. w20221). National Bureau of Economic Research.

35.

Gottfredson

G. D.

Gottfredson

D. C.

(1989). School climate, academic performance, attendance, and dropout. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED308225.pdf

36.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2014a). Chronic absenteeism and its effects on students’ academic and socioemotional outcomes. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 19(2), 53–75. https://doi.org/10.1080/10824669.2014.962696

37.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2014b). Can neighbor attributes predict school absences? Urban Education, 49(2), 216–250. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085913475634

38.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2009). Excused versus unexcused: How student absences in elementary school affect academic achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 31(4), 392–415. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373709342467

39.

Gottfried

M. A.

(2017). Linking getting to school with going to school. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(4), 571–592. https://doi.org/10.3102/0162373717699472

40.

Gottfried

M. A.

Hutt

E. L.

(2019). Absent from school: Understanding and addressing student absenteeism. Harvard Education Press.

41.

Gottfried

M. A.

Kirksey

J. J.

(2017). “When” students miss school: The role of timing of absenteeism on students’ test performance. Educational Researcher, 46(3), 119–130. https://doi.org/10.3102/0013189X17703945

42.

Gower

A. L.

McMorris

B. J.

Eisenberg

M. E.

(2015). School-level contextual predictors of bullying and harassment experiences among adolescents. Social Science & Medicine, 147, 47–53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.socscimed.2015.10.036

43.

Hallfors

Godette

(2002). Will the principles of effectiveness’ improve prevention practice? Early findings from a diffusion study. Health Education Research, 17(4), 461–470. https://doi.org/10.1093/her/17.4.461

44.

Hamlin

(2019). Flight to safety in deindustrialized cities: Perceptions of school safety in charter and public schools in Detroit, Michigan. Education and Urban Society, 52(3), 394–414. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013124519846288

45.

Hamlin

(2020). The relationship between parent volunteering in school and school safety in disadvantaged urban neighborhoods. Journal of School Violence, 19(3), 362–376. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2019.1700801

46.

Henry

K. L.

Huizinga

D. H.

(2007). Truancy’s effect on the onset of drug use among urban adolescents placed at risk. Journal of Adolescent Health, 40(4), 358-e9–358-e17. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jadohealth.2006.11.138

47.

Henry

K. L.

Knight

K. E.

Thornberry

T. P.

(2012). School disengagement as a predictor of dropout, delinquency, and problem substance use during adolescence and early adulthood. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 41(2), 156–166. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-011-9665-3

48.

Hilbe

J. M.

(2011). Negative binomial regression. Cambridge University Press.

49.

Hjalmarsson

(2008). Criminal justice involvement and high school completion. Journal of Urban Economics, 63(2), 613–630. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jue.2007.04.003

50.

Hopson

L. M.

Lee

(2011). Mitigating the effect of family poverty on academic and behavioral outcomes: The role of school climate in middle and high school. Children and Youth Services Review, 33(11), 2221–2229. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.childyouth.2011.07.006

51.

Jeynes

(2010). Parental involvement and academic success. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203843444

52.

Kearney

C. A.

(2008). School absenteeism and school refusal behavior in youth: A contemporary review. Clinical Psychology Review, 28(3), 451–471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cpr.2007.07.012

53.

Kostyo

Cardichon

Darling-Hammond

(2018). Making ESSA’s equity promise real: State strategies to close the opportunity gap. Learning Policy Institute.

54.

Koth

C. W.

Bradshaw

C. P.

Leaf

P. J.

(2008). A multilevel study of predictors of student perceptions of school climate: The effect of classroom-level factors. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(1), 96–104. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.100.1.96

55.

Lesneskie

Block

(2017). School violence: The role of parental and community involvement. Journal of School Violence, 16(4), 426–444. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220.2016.1168744

56.

Leventhal

Brooks-Gunn

(2004). A randomized study of neighborhood effects on low-income children’s educational outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 40(4), 488–507. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.40.4.488

57.

Levy

D. E.

Winickoff

J. P.

Rigotti

N. A.

(2011). School absenteeism among children living with smokers. Pediatrics, 128(4), 650–656. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2011-1067

58.

Lohmeier

J. H.

Lee

S. W.

(2011). A school connectedness scale for use with adolescents. Educational Research and Evaluation, 17(2), 85–95. https://doi.org/10.1080/13803611.2011.597108

59.

Loukas

Murphy

J. L.

(2007). Middle school student perceptions of school climate: Examining protective functions on subsequent adjustment problems. Journal of School Psychology, 45(3), 293–309. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2006.10.001

60.

Maxwell

L. E.

(2016). School building condition, social climate, student attendance and academic achievement: A mediation model. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 46, 206–216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2016.04.009

61.

Maxwell

Reynolds

K. J.

Lee

Subasic

Bromhead

(2017). The impact of school climate and school identification on academic achievement: Multilevel modeling with student and teacher data. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, Article 2069. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2017.02069

62.

McConnell

B. M.

Kubina

R. M.

Jr. (2014). Connecting with families to improve students’ school attendance: A review of the literature. Preventing School Failure: Alternative Education for Children and Youth, 58(4), 249–256. https://doi.org/10.1080/1045988X.2013.821649

63.

Moricca

M. L.

Grasska

M. A.

BMarthaler

Morphew

Weismuller

P. C.

Galant

S. P.

(2013). School asthma screening and case management: Attendance and learning outcomes. Journal of School Nursing, 29(2), 104–112. https://doi.org/10.1177/1059840512452668

64.

Nathanson

Cole

Kemple

Lent

McCormick

Segeritz

(2013, June). New York City school survey 2008-2010: Assessing the reliability and validity of a progress report measure [Technical Report]. https://research.steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/sg158/PDFs/school_survey/NYCSchoolSurvey_AssessingReliabilityValidity.pdf

65.

National School Climate Council. (2019). The thirteen dimensions of school climate measured by CSCI. https://www.schoolclimate.org/themes/schoolclimate/assets/pdf/csci/CSCI-Dimensions-Chart_2019.pdf

66.

Neild

R. C.

Balfanz

(2006). Unfulfilled promise: The dimensions and characteristics of Philadelphia’s dropout crisis, 2000-2005. Philadelphia Youth Network. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED538341.pdf

67.

Niehaus

Irvin

M. J.

Rogelberg

(2016). School connectedness and valuing as predictors of high school completion and postsecondary attendance among Latino youth. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 44, 54–67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cedpsych.2016.02.003

68.

Osterman

K. F.

(2000). Students’ need for belonging in the school community. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 323–367. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543070003323

69.

Parise

L. M.

Corrin

Granito

Haider

Somers

M. A.

Cerna

(2017). Two years of case management: Final findings from the Communities In Schools random assignment evaluation. MDRC. https://www.mdrc.org/sites/default/files/CIS%20RCT%20Final%20Report-Web-REV.pdf

70.

Ready

D. D.

(2010). Socioeconomic disadvantage, school attendance, and early cognitive development: The differential effects of school exposure. Sociology of Education, 83(4), 271–286. https://doi.org/10.1177/0038040710383520

71.

Ripski

M. B.

Gregory

(2009). Unfair, unsafe, and unwelcome: Do high school students’ perceptions of unfairness, hostility, and victimization in school predict engagement and achievement? Journal of School Violence, 8(4), 355–375. https://doi.org/10.1080/15388220903132755

72.

Robinson

C. D.

Lee

M. G.

Dearing

Rogers

(2018). Reducing student absenteeism in the early grades by targeting parental beliefs. American Educational Research Journal, 55(6), 1163–1192. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218772274

73.

Rocque

Jennings

W. G.

Piquero

A. R.

Ozkan

Farrington

D. P.

(2017). The importance of school attendance: Findings from the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development on the life-course effects of truancy. Crime & Delinquency, 63(5), 592–612. https://doi.org/10.1177/0011128716660520

74.

Roderick

Kelley-Kemple

Johnson

D. W.

Beechum

N. O.

(2014). Preventable failure: Improvements in long-term outcomes when high schools focused on the ninth grade year. University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research.

75.

Rogers

Duncan

Wolford

Ternovski

Subramanyam

Reitano

(2017). A randomized experiment using absenteeism information to “nudge” attendance (REL 2017–252). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences, National Center for Education Evaluation and Regional Assistance, Regional Educational Laboratory Mid-Atlantic. http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/edlabs

76.

Ryan

R. M.

Deci

E. L.

(2000). Self-determination theory and the facilitation of intrinsic motivation, social development, and well-being. American Psychologist, 55(1), 68–78. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.55.1.68

77.

Schanzenbach

D. W.

Bauer

Mumford

(2016, October). Lessons for broadening school accountability under the Every Student Succeeds Act. The Hamilton Project: The Brookings Institute. https://www.hamiltonproject.org/assets/files/lessons_broadening_school_accountability_essa.pdf

78.

Sheldon

S. B.

(2007). Improving student attendance with school, family, and community partnerships. Journal of Educational Research, 100(5), 267–275. https://doi.org/10.3200/JOER.100.5.267-275

79.

Sheldon

S. B.

Epstein

J. L.

(2004). Getting students to school: Using family and community involvement to reduce chronic absenteeism. School Community Journal, 14(2), 39–56.

80.

Simons

Hwang

S. A.

Fitzgerald

E. F.

Kielb

Lin

(2010). The impact of school building conditions on student absenteeism in upstate New York. American Journal of Public Health, 100(9), 1679–1686. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.165324

81.

Smerillo

N. E.

Reynolds

A. J.

Temple

J. A.

S. R.

(2018). Chronic absence, eighth-grade achievement, and high school attainment in the Chicago Longitudinal Study. Journal of School Psychology, 67, 163–178. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2017.11.001

82.

Spencer

A. M.

(2009). School attendance patterns, unmet educational needs, and truancy: A chronological perspective. Remedial and Special Education, 30(5), 309–319. https://doi.org/10.1177/0741932508321017

83.

Thapa

Cohen

Guffey

Higgins-D’Alessandro

(2013). A review of school climate research. Review of Educational Research, 83(3), 357–385. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654313483907

84.

Thompson

R. A.

Goodvin

(2016). Social support and developmental psychopathology. In Cicchetti

(Ed.), Developmental psychopathology: Vol. 4. Risk, resilience, and intervention (3rd ed., pp. 86–135). Wiley.

85.

U.S. Department of Education. (2019). Chronic absenteeism in the nation’s schools. https://www2.ed.gov/datastory/chronicabsenteeism.html

86.

Van Eck

Johnson

S. R.

Bettencourt

Johnson

S. L.

(2017). How school climate relates to chronic absence: A multi-level latent profile analysis. Journal of School Psychology, 61, 89–102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsp.2016.10.001

87.

Wahlstrom

Dretzke

Gordon

Peterson

Edwards

Gdula

(2014). Examining the impact of later school start times on the health and academic performance of high school students: A multi-site study. University of Minnesota, Center for Applied Research and Educational Improvement. https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/162769/Impact%20of%20Later%20Start%20Time%20Final%20Report.pdf

88.

Wang

M. T.

Degol

J. L.

(2016). School climate: A review of the construct, measurement, and impact on student outcomes. Educational Psychology Review, 28(2), 315–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-015-9319-1

89.

Williams

Richman

(2007). The first year of high school: A quick stats fact sheet. National High School Center. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED501073.pdf

Can a Positive School Climate Promote Student Attendance? Evidence From New York City

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References